


Infrared

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Series: The Speed of Light [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, there is an adorable 8-year-old in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:44:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2488163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dead man returns, an 8-year-old is adorable, and two teenage boys finally get their act together.</p><p>(a type of light with a wavelength longer than any on the visible spectrum)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Infrared

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this series!  
> I started it mostly to get a feel for how I wanted to write Will/what backstory I wanted my version of him to have, and I didn't expect people to pay it much attention. The response I've gotten has been overwhelmingly positive and it just makes me so happy to see people reacting like this.  
> I have vague plans in the works for a second series in this universe to be called "the speed of sound," but I haven't started writing yet, so we'll see.  
> I hope you enjoy the story!

Leo Valdez’s return to Camp was… chaotic, to say the least.

Will didn’t witness the actual ‘returning’ bit; he was still asleep. Most people were. As far as he knew, the only people who’d actually been outside at the time were Aisling _and the goddess Hestia_.

Will’s part in the whole thing came just _after_ Leo showed up with a dragon and an immortal girlfriend.

He woke up to Aisling’s voice echoing in his head. “ _Will!”_

Will launched himself out of bed and onto the floor, pausing for a moment to be rather impressed with his landing since he slept on a top bunk, then ran for the door. Since being claimed as a child of Apollo, Aisling had learned that she could send her voice across some pretty impressive distances, but she didn’t like to do it often because it still gave her headaches. Will knew that if she’d used that ability, especially this early in the morning, something must be wrong.

The scene that Will found when he stepped outside would’ve been comical if it hadn’t been so tense. Nico stood, frozen, about thirty feet away from him, still dressed in his grey pyjamas and socks. Jason was closer to the action, glasses-less and dressed only in boxers and a large fleece blanket. Near the fire stood Aisling and another little girl who Nico would later identify as Hestia, staring down none other than Leo Valdez, who was standing a few feet away with a pretty girl and a giant metal dragon.

Well then.

“Ashie, what’s up?” Will called, trying to sound casual. He noticed that Aisling was turning the magic bow that Harley had made for her (with some help from Lou Ellen’s siblings) over in her hands in its compressed form – the little butterfly clip she usually wore at the end of her braid.

“He says he’s Leo Valdez,” Aisling reported. “Nico told me Leo Valdez is dead.”

“Well he sure looks like Valdez,” said Will. “Jase?”

Jason opened and closed his mouth a few times, glanced at Nico, then took a few faltering steps forward. “Leo?”

Leo opened his arms. “The one and only.”

“And who’s -?”

“Oh!” Leo said, pulling the girl forward. “This is Calypso.”

Calypso smiled. “Hello.”

Jason ran the rest of the way to Leo and pulled his friend into such an enthusiastic hug that the shorter boy’s feet left the ground.

“Ash, call Piper,” Nico said, finally finding his voice. “And Percy.”

Aisling nodded and took a deep breath. “ _Piper. Percy. Come outside.”_ She closed her eyes. “Will?”

Will rushed forward, reaching her just in time to catch her as she lost her balance. He scooped her up, but didn’t walk away. Ash would be okay with a little rest, but Will was pretty sure Leo wasn’t going to be so lucky once Piper got her hands on him.

Half an hour later, Will was sitting in the infirmary with Aisling (exhaustion and a headache, being looked after by Nico), Leo (fractured jaw, being tended to by Calypso and Melody, who wasn’t happy to be dragged out of bed before the sun), and Piper (badly bruised hand, being mended by Will himself). Technically Leo was just  _outside_  of the infirmary to avoid further incident, but within Will's view.

“ – overusing your powers can be dangerous –“

“Pot,” Will called, “meet kettle.” Piper snickered.

“Shut up, Will, I’m trying to make a point,” Nico replied.

“A point negated by the truly horrific example you set,” Will said.

“Are you ever going to let that go?” asked Nico. “It’s been _months_. Shadow wasn’t even here yet!”

Aisling giggled.

“You almost _dissolved_ ,” Will insisted. “All she got was a headache.”

“Yeah, Nico, lead by example,” Aisling chimed in.

Nico swatted at her. “Pipe down, Shadow, you’re supposed to be resting.”

“Di Angelo, stop assaulting my patients or you’ll be asked to leave,” said Will.

Aisling and Piper giggled some more.

“Shouldn’t you be calling your sister anyway?” continued Will. “I’m sure she’d love to hear that Valdez is still breathing.”

Nico looked like he wanted to go do that, but he glanced down at Aisling. The third grader rolled her eyes. “I’m o _kay_ , Nico. Go call Hazel.”

Nico stood up. Aisling poked him. Will caught Nico’s arm as he walked by. “Hey, check in if you’re going to go disappearing, alright?”

“Yeah,” said Nico. “Of course.”

And wasn’t that _some_ change from a few months back.

\--

“Hazel-Hazel-Hazel-Hazel-Hazel!”

“Aisling, go back to bed.”

“I’m fine, Nico. I want to see Hazel!”

“Did Will give you permission to leave?”

“Well, he’s been pretty busy with Leo and –“

“ _Aisling_.”

“No.”

“Go. I’ll bring Hazel by later if you don’t cause too much trouble for your brother.”

\--

“Nico! Hey, Nico!” Will called at lunch.

“Yeah?” Nico replied, pausing as he passed the Apollo table.

Will held up his arm, which was tied to Aisling’s. “Thanks for sending her back.”

“I’m okaaaay!” insisted Aisling.

“You should just get her one of those little backpack child leashes,” one of their sisters suggested.

The boy next to her laughed. “A monkey one! We can get it as a birthday present, what do you say, UV?”

Aisling groaned dramatically. “I’m not a _toddler.”_

“Stop running off, then,” said Will. He looked at Nico pointedly. “You’re too like your big brother that way.”

“It’s been _months_ ,” Nico replied.

Hazel chuckled and led him to their table.

“Months,” repeated Nico. “Seriously.”

\--

“Solace!”

Will glanced up. “What’s up, Nico?”

Nico crossed the room and flopped onto the bed under Will’s. “Where’s Shadow?”

“Archery,” Will answered. “But if I had to guess, I’d say that’s not why you’re here?”

“Nope,” said Nico. “I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Talk away,” Will replied.

“Why do you keep bringing up the – the _fading_ and the running away stuff?” asked Nico in a rush.  “I mean, I haven’t… It’s February now, Will! Do you really think I’d run off again after staying this long?”

Will, who had been organising supplies for that afternoon’s capture the flag game, paused and turned around. “How long has this been bothering you?”

“I don’t –“

“Nico.”

“A while, I suppose. Answer the question.”

“I would’ve stopped,” Will said. “I have plenty of better things to tease you about now. I just held onto it because… well, honestly, because I think about it a lot. Your record really isn’t great, man. I worry.”

“You – you _worry_?” repeated Nico. “And that’s your excuse for –“

“Dude, of course I worry,” said Will. “You have a history of running off and a poor self-preservation instinct. I’m a healer and your _friend_. Why wouldn’t I?”

“If I were going to run away again, I would’ve gone already,” Nico said.

Will sat down next to him. “Well maybe I’m worried you’ll get bored here. Or worse, gods forbid, that I’ll scare you off. Or maybe I have nightmares about you _dissolving_ every once in a while.”

“You really…?”

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t know,” said Will, “but that’s the sort of thing we people with crushes on boys who can teleport worry about.”

And then he froze, looking at Nico out of the corner of his eye and holding his breath.

“You – a _crush_? On me?” spluttered Nico.

“Yeah. I, uh, didn’t mean to mention that,” Will said, going very red. He started to stand up. “If it makes you uncomfortable, I can back off a bit, give you some space…”

Nico grabbed Will’s wrist before he could make a strategic retreat. “No, no, Will - it’s fine. It’s good, even.”

“Do you mean that you…?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

Will sat down again. Nico released the death grip he had on Will’s arm and instead carefully placed his hand on Will’s.

“So…” said Will.

Nico smiled briefly, just the tiniest upward movement of the corners of his mouth, then took a breath. “Do you want to sit with me at campfire tonight?”

“Yeah,” said Will. “That’d be nice.”

\--

They didn’t count on their sisters, Will’s brothers, Jason Grace, and the entire Aphrodite cabin cooing over them through most of Campfire, though they probably should have.

They didn’t count on Annabeth Chase cornering Will the next morning and - on behalf of Hazel, Jason, Piper, herself, Reyna, and Gleeson Hedge – scaring him to within an inch of his life, with a promise to push him that last inch should he put even a toe out of line, though they definitely should have.

 They didn’t count on being caught, three weekends later, two inches from their first kiss, by Abby and Aisling, though they really really should have.

Really, it was a miracle when, midway through March, they found themselves walking along the beach alone, without any of Nico’s self-appointed protective older siblings glaring at Will every time he glanced back.

He squeezed Nico’s hand.

Camp just got a whole lot brighter.


End file.
